Two thirds of Americans OK with Mormon candidate

Roughly two out of three Americans say it makes no difference to them if a presidential candidate is Mormon, according to a new Pew Research Center poll, although evangelicals are more cautious.

The poll found that 68 percent of respondents said a candidate's Mormon faith would not matter, while one in four said they would be less likely to support a Mormon.

White evangelicals were most likely to care about a candidate's Mormon faith, with one third of them saying they would be less likely to support a Mor­mon candidate, compared to 24 percent of the religiously unaffiliated and 19 percent of Catholics and white mainline Pro­testants.

Half of registered voters who had heard of candidate Mitt Romney, a Mormon, said there's at least some chance they would support him in 2012. Among those who are less likely to vote for a Mormon candidate, just 31 percent said there was at least some chance the former Massachusetts governor would be their choice.

Adelle M. Banks

The survey, conducted May 25–30, was based on a national sample of 1,509 adults.

Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who is also a Mormon, announced his entrance into the Republican primary on June 21.

While 82 percent of registered voters had heard of Romney, only 32 percent knew of Huntsman, who recently re­signed as the U.S. ambassador to China. Slightly more than a third of registered voters who had heard of Huntsman said he had at least some chance of getting their vote. —RNS